One year ago today: September 17, 2023, installing hinges.
Five years ago today: September 17, 2019, too much attention.
Nine years ago today: September 17, 2015, 42 hours straight.
Random years ago today: September 17, 2018, on airplane tires.
My, you are up early and looking fit for the day. Good, we start off with the thrilling topic of accounting for Certificates of Deposit, or what you bank calls CDs. Come to think of it, those are probably music to their ears, pardon the pun. Okay, what I mean is the bank borrows your money at 4.5% and will lend it out at 12.5%. The snag is accounting for your portion. The bank has designed a system easy for them and tough for you. I’ll describe the process, then the problem.
You buy a CD at 4%, probably from your savings account which is paying 0.2%. The CD has a specified term, usually 30-60-90 days, or six or nine months or some multiple thereof. They never teach you in school how important it is to watch these things. The first problem is that maturity date, if you are not there or don’t compose a letter to be there a week in advance, the bank automatically rolls your CD over into another similar term—but for about 1/3 the interest rate. The bank knows damn well most people cannot plan far enough in advance to be there.
This just happened to me. I had two $1,000 CDs at 4.75% that matured while I was busy towing my van to Florida, another tale from the trailer court. They are now locking in until late October at 2.1% and no, don’t you go cashing them in to get back on track, the bank seen you coming and there is a penalty for early withdrawal. True, you could just kind of do nothing and let it all work itself out. Fine, die broke and see if anybody cares. I’m the one to tell you this is the level at which you must get involved with such investments or you will lose.
The follow on problem is the bank treats each CD as a separate account, separate from your savings account. They assign it a new account number, and that number changes each time they roll it over. It’s as if they know the average person lacks the wherewithal to keep track of all this. Net result is in the long run, you earn about half the interest your planned on. Understand that when you invest for interest (as opposed to other types of investing), you should realize that once you get old, this is likely the only type of investment you will still be capable of handling. That’s something you should get through your head once and for all, pal.
Here’s where I introduce a rule of thumb you may not like. It is the interest on that interest that is your actual gain. Huh? Okay, the first tier of interest you make is, in the long run, eaten up by taxes and eroded by inflation. Follow this example. You invest $10,000 at 4% and “earn” $400 interest after a year. That’s taxable and after inflation (currently 30%+) you actually lost money. But, then you begin to make interest on that $400, in this case $16. Without a complicated explanation, that is the $16 that is “the magic of compounding” and the portion that will pay off in the long run.
I’ve concluded the only way for me to track my CDs it to follow the bank method of one account each. To mix it up, the bank assigns a new account number each rollover, and these appear from the investor end to be random numbers. Thus, a whole new spreadsheet design with a custom cover sheet that presents a summary. It’s as if the bank knows this is one of the best ways to cause untrained customers to introduce errors into record system.
Close, but not anniversary, it was a year and a day ago I tested the Gigrac, knowing something was wrong. And looked at a PA system almost identical to the one I bought y’day.
Argentine pizza.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.
The heater will have to wait as it requires a dedicated 220V circuit. I drove out to Rural King for these cheap appliances, discovered their coffee maker was working again, and spend an hour looking around, munching on free popcorn. That store rivals Harbor Freight for cheap Chinese junk. Our sweetheart from last day was not in, so that made me the best looking person in the store. One thing about diversity hires, they are no competition in any department. Here is the process of installing the unit this afternoon, a Festus Tuesday.
This view shows the open cavity, looking out onto the rafter of the laundry area. The next frame is the installed unit being tested. It lacks a bit of trim, but so what? Knowing not one person I could call for a hand, I took out the old unit and put in the new myself. You should try lifting these things up shoulder height when you are over 60. And what a contraption of an A/C. see the panel on the left. The output vent is across the top. Look close, only six of the eight ports are really functional. The rightmost two are blocked off. Cheap or what?
This morning I’d found another home invader in the rat trap, who got a ride to the Confederate Cemetery. Most of the others I trapped were not quite adults, this one was full grown. Possible I’ve captured half the breeding population by now.That reminds me, a couple days ago, coming out of the big workshed, I saw the oldest raccoon I have ever seen. Almost completely old grey except paws and eyes, she (by the size) did not appear to see or hear me until I moved down the path.
She was drinking out of the garden wheelbarrow which I have not dumped in a couple of days. Once she was aware of my presence, she just shuffled off toward Howie’s shed with a sort of I-don’t-care-anymore gait. No, I can’t set anything out for her, this area has a raccoon problem that has made the papers. Yes, we still read newspapers in Mulberry. The radio says hundreds of pagers that were purchased for use by Hezbollah terrorist were exploded remotely by Israel. Hundreds are reported dead, many more wounded for life. Sad, but still a classic.
Later, we watched a Doc Adams episode, where he fends of stage coach robbers with a blind man and pregnant lady. Matt and Festus put in maybe an entire four minutes, the privilege of TV stars and DMV staff. They sure do cast a pretty natural blonde gal on that series every week or so. I’ve been busy 19 hours today, give me some slack. This PA really needs to be tested , my plan is to contact the Legion tomorrow. You are as up-to-date informed about band matters as anyone around here. Hopefully you enjoy it vicariously, because I like that word.
ADDENDUM
I’m on the last third of the “Stars” audio-book and it was pure female flights of fancy. The hobo who was crashing turns out to be an unsung hero and gets hired by the Boston Symphony. Yet he faithfully writes our housewife love letters. And the doctor is also courting her, lending her is car and going shopping together. Yet this is nothing to indicate our protagonist has anything in the looks or talent department. As my mother said about my sister who left home at 18 to work as a meter maid in Seattle and six months later she was on a yacht off the Australian West Coast, “It’s her personality.”
Now Carol, our heroine, has progressed from destitute to a house, job, and car, in the spanse of one pay-period, and has two secret loves. One talented, one brainy, and both so nice they’d charm Aunt Polly out of her silverware. And you guessed it, the missing husband shows up. Badly burned, missing an arm, and just out of a two-week coma. It would seem comas were much more of a thing in the 30s and 40s. Except now he is an invalid who takes up all her time. And he’s noticed that razor that fell under the bathtub and the piano moved down one storey, requiring a crane and team of men. One big problem is the house is full of others who know what happened and they are not in on the game.
He’s either not himself or he is, depending on how much you believe in personality changes. I don’t. Once an AOL, always and AOL, I view asinine people as permanent as DNA. She has to quit her job at the doctor’s office and has to lie to him about things like where she got the car. She hasn’t told him about the fortune in jewelry she found sewn into the lining of his mother’s clothes. My guess is, he will die somewhere so Carol can pick up where she left off. Meanwhile, there is an aspect of the book I am enjoying; the descriptions of life in the 1940s.
It’s a hoot, things like when she test drives the cars, they have to ask if there is a heater. It was still an option in Maine in 1947. They have to test all the roll-down windows. One thing that has not changed is used car salesmen. Finding an apartment with meals included was clearly much easier back then. Carol wears a mink hat long before activists were a thing. Writers back then always like to detail what people ate on dates and at restaurants. One hilarious passage is she describes getting dressed one morning. I have only once dated a gal who wore that much armor plating. Carol won’t go downstairs to cook her kids some oatmeal without first putting on a girdle.
